Winner of Mike Lindell’s $5M contest never got his money. Now he’s taking Lindell to court.

Bob Zeidman, a Las Vegas-based software expert, is going to federal court to claim the $5 million in winnings awarded to him last month by an arbitration panel that found he was due the money from My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell.

The saga has its roots in Lindell’s election conspiracies, with the pillow salesman and vocal Trump supporter creating a challenge in 2021. His offer: If anyone could prove his trove of data wasn’t from the November 2020 election, he’d pay them $5 million, a quest he called the “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge. 

As Zeidman told CBS MoneyWatch last month, he quickly determined Lindell’s data “was all bogus” — but after the pillow CEO failed to pay up, the matter ended up in front of an arbitration panel. On April 19, the three-member panel, selected by Lindell LLC, agreed with Zeidman that the data wasn’t connected to the election, and ruled that Lindell had to pay the $5 million within 30 days. 

Lindell has asked that the award be vacated in state court, according to the May 19 federal filing from Zeidman’s attorneys. Zeidman hasn’t received a cent, they added. 

Taking Lindell to court

Now, Zeidman is asking that a federal court confirm the legitimacy of the arbitrators’ decision.

“Mr. Lindell should honor his agreement, as confirmed by the three arbitrators, and pay me,” Zeidman said in a Friday email to CBS MoneyWatch. “I’ve gotten no money or response from Lindell other than his lawyer Alec Beck filing a Petition to Vacate Arbitration Award today, though he’s given no reason. He says that a reason will be forthcoming at a later date.”

Lindell didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

In a comment to CBS MoneyWatch last month, Lindell said he disagreed with the arbitration panel’s decision and that he didn’t plan on paying. “I don’t owe him any money,” Lindell said last month of Zeidman. “He didn’t prove anything.”